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Trump To Host Kennedy Center Honors; Peace Talks To End Russia's War On Ukraine Ended With No Deal; Pretrial Hearing To Resume For Luigi Mangione; Man Arrested For Stabbing On Charlotte Light Rail; Trump Approach To Affordability Not Matching Most Americans; Hegseth Faces Mounting Scrutiny Over Boat Strikes, Signal Use; College Football Playoff Field Sparks Controversy. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 07, 2025 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:00]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: But it's a notable setting that has more than a hint of irony considering the president's own executive order that he signed seeking to dismantle the institute and gut it altogether back in February. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, celebrated it and post it, saying, President Trump will be remembered by history as a president of peace. It's time our State Department display that.

Thank you so much for joining us for this special edition of "The Source." I'm Kaitlan Collins and the news continues right here on CNN.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York. And tonight, the annual Kennedy Center Honors is taking place in Washington, D.C. But things are going to look different this year. Instead of the president customarily watches from the box, as is tradition, President Trump is hosting tonight's event. It's just the latest move by the president to reshape the nation's cultural institution, and it's not clear exactly how the president is planning to host the ceremony tonight.

CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook is at the White House and joins us now. Julia, the president has been quite involved in this year's Kennedy Center Honors and also in the institution itself.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very involved. The Kennedy Center Honors is a long-time tradition spanning decades. But there are some major changes taking place this year. At the top of the list is that the sitting president, Donald Trump, is also the chairman of the Kennedy Center Board, and he is also going to be hosting tonight's event. This comes after he skipped the event during his first term. But when he announced that he would be taking center stage tonight, he said he was confident in the job that he would do and that he'd do it better than some before him. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We never had a president hosting the awards before. This is the first. I'm sure they'll give me great reviews, right? You know, they'll say he was horrible, he was terrible, it was a horrible situation. No, we'll do fine. I've watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, some of these people. If I can't beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don't think I should be president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: In another unprecedented move, Trump said that he was 98% involved in selecting this year's winner. So, let's take a closer look at that list. It includes country music star George Strait, actor and Broadway alum Michael Crawford, actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, and members of the rock band Kiss.

Now, Trump has taken a very special interest in the Kennedy Center specifically and made some controversial moves during his second term. In fact, back in February, he dismissed a slew of Democratic appointees to the board of trustees and replaced them with aides and allies, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles as well as Second Lady Usha Vance. He was subsequently elected chairman of the board.

He has also paid a lot of attention to the building. In the so-called one big beautiful bill, there was more than $250 million allotted for repairs and restoration, and he has touted updates to the exterior marble as well as the interior chairs and some of the stages as well.

And then just last week, kind of tying this altogether, Jessica. He was speaking at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, highlighting again as he places his name and his mark on different buildings. And he said he referred to it as the Trump Kennedy Center. He did brush that off as a joke. But could there be some seriousness there? We'll see.

DEAN: Yes, certainly. And it's just another example of him really challenging norms and breaking traditions. Julia, you also have some reporting on to that like kind of thought, the change even in the medals this year. That was something that they paid close attention to.

BENBROOK: Yes, that's one you're going to see as these honorees walk the red carpet tonight for a long time since the honors began back in 1978. You've seen the iconic rainbow ribbons. You can see them there. They've really been associated with this event. But the center said that it has reimagined the award this year, and they are now being donated by Tiffany & Co.

It is a gold disc. It has the honorees name on one side, and then an outline of the Kennedy Center on the other. Now, the rainbow, which represents the breadth of the arts that are being honored here tonight is still included, but in much more subtle way there on the metal. Jessica?

DEAN: All right, Julia Benbrook with the latest from the White House, thank you for your reporting. We appreciate it. U.S.-brokered peace talks to end Russia's war on Ukraine ended this weekend with no deal. While these discussions were described as positive, several key issues, including territory disputes and security guarantees, continue to be an issue and need to be ironed out.

[17:05:01]

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us with more on where things stand right now. Paula?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three days of discussions, negotiations between the U.S. and Ukrainian delegation in Miami, Florida have ended and both sides have referred to them as constructive. Now, we have heard from the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, saying that -- quote -- "difficult issues remain," saying that both sides are going to continue to try and secure realistic and acceptable solutions.

Now, we understand that the two of the outstanding issues are territory and guarantees. These have been the long-standing sticking points when it comes to these negotiations. Ukraine has insisted that it needs strong security guarantees to ensure it is not having to surrender further territory to Russia in the future.

And what we have heard from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in recent days when he was in India is that he intends to seize the eastern Donbass region by any means. So, really highlighting Ukraine's insistence on having those steadfast strong security guarantees.

So, those discussions have ended. We know that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken by phone to the two U.S. mediators. That's Steve Witkoff, the special envoy for the Trump administration, and also President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Those conversations, according to the Ukrainian side, were also constructive, we understand. And we have heard from the U.S. ambassador to NATO, who has suggested that progress is being made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

You know, we're close -- we're closer than we've ever been to peace. And this is -- you know, as President Trump has said, this is a -- this is a tough situation to get to the right spot. And, you know, ultimately, this war needs to end. It has been going on for almost four years with millions of casualties.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So, looking forward to this coming week. We know that President Zelenskyy will be in London on Monday. He will be meeting with the leaders of the U.K, of Germany, of France. These discussions will continue. The diplomacy is ongoing on a number of different tracks at this point. But as of now, no breakthrough.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Paula, thank you. And we're joined now by CNN national security analyst and former deputy director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner. Beth, it's good to see you. We just got the update there from Paula. We've had a lot of talks. We've had a lot of discussions. There's a lot of diplomatic speak, I think, of progress. But in terms of your opinion on all of this as someone who has been in a lot of rooms and understands what some of this diplomatic speak means, how would you assess where things stand today?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I -- you know, I think that we are a bit at a stalemate. But I think it's good actually to be talking to Russia, to be trying to push them. But I think that that's the part that is lacking. And what we're seeing is Putin's response to all of this isn't, oh, I'll give a little bit more here, which is what I think the Ukrainian side is doing. They're instead saying, no, we insist, we insist on the same demands that we've had, you know, for quite some time.

And so, that doubling down on kind of these maximalist ideas is, I think, the key problem here. I don't think that Russia is ready yet. I think Putin thinks that he can make more gains and push Ukraine into a worse deal.

DEAN: Yes. And I think that really begs the question of what can be done to get Putin there, aside from letting him try to do exactly what you just said. Are there pressure points that the U.S. government could have or, you know, or not?

SANNER: Yes, there are. There are no -- you know, there is not a magic wand that, you know, you put pressure on one day and the next day, you know, he agrees because these are, you know, more than economic issues involved here. These are huge legacy civilizational issues for Putin.

But yes, we can continue to build up more sanctions, not take them away, and do more to isolate Putin. And instead of giving him all of these things in the deal, like G8, which, you know, whatever, you want to hold those things as carrots and put more sticks in in this stage of the negotiation, and then you don't want to undercut Ukraine and make them look weak. And I think that's the double edge of this that's not going right.

[17:10:01]

DEAN: Trump Jr., the president's son, suggesting today that the president may walk away from Ukraine over this corruption, the corruption scandals in Zelenskyy's government. He called Ukraine -- quote -- "a far more corrupt country than Russia." Do you think that Zelenskyy and Ukraine are in a weaker negotiating position in Trump's view, whether or not they actually are in the president's view?

SANNER: Well, certainly, Zelenskyy has been politically weakened by this corruption scandal, and I don't think it's in anyone's interest to downgrade the seriousness of that scandal. But ironically, the more that President Trump pushes on Ukraine to give up more than what the Ukrainian people feel is not only just but a sustainable piece, the more they will rally around Zelenskyy. And that is what we see because they don't want this war to come back again, right? So, I don't think that that's true in that it would push Zelenskyy into doing a better deal or giving up, you know, that he would give up more because he's in this weakened political position. I think quite the opposite.

And I think this idea that Russia is more corrupt than Ukraine is like, literally, I'm having trouble sitting on my chair and not laughing and falling off of it. I mean, you know, Navalny gave his life in a gulag for putting out videos of the corruption of this regime. This regime couldn't complete their war plan because state approved, encouraged, allowed corruption meant that everything from food supplies to tires on tanks fell apart because of the corruption.

What Ukraine has is a serious scandal, but they also have civil society that demands that the independent investigators continue to look at that, and they are actually -- no one is going to be off limits in that investigation that continues today. That's the strength of the Ukrainian society that came out of the revolution in 2014 and no more.

DEAN: Yes, yes. We also know that Zelenskyy is going to meet with the leaders of France, Germany, and the U.K. in London. That's tomorrow. How is Europe viewing this moment?

SANNER: Well, I think that when you combine this with the national security strategy, which really, you know, tore into Europe in a way that was about, you know, kind of ideology and culture, and I think you combine these two things, and I think that Europe really has been shaken of late, they are not central or really a part of this negotiation that the United States is running, and, you know, they are feeling like they're at risk of, you know, kind of holding the bag, and that's certainly what the U.S. policy is, is ultimately Europe needs to be responsible.

The question is, now that Europe is stepping up and trying to do that, how long will it take and at what risk will there be in this interim period? But I think that the Europeans are definitely in a pretty precarious state right now.

DEAN: All right. Beth Sanner, good to see you. Thanks for that. We appreciate it.

SANNER: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead, another stabbing on a North Carolina public train is drawing outrage just months after a Ukrainian refugee was stabbed and killed there. What we know about the suspect, who officials say was illegally in the U.S. deported, but somehow managed to get back into the country. Plus, crucial new evidence for the murder trial of Luigi Mangione, including the 911 call that led to his arrest. Stay with us. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:15:00]

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DEAN: Tomorrow in New York, a critical pretrial evidence hearing resumes for the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside of a Manhattan hotel last year. Attorneys for Luigi Mangione are pushing to suppress evidence in the state's murder case against him. The pretrial hearing began last week but was postponed Friday after Mangione became ill.

CNN's Leigh Waldman has been following this for us. So, Lee, what is expected to happen in court tomorrow and where does this go from here?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, we're expecting the prosecution to continue on calling witnesses to try and verify and prove their case, that all of the evidence that they're presenting should be allowed in court. There have been some big moments in court already. Audio from that 911 call alerting police that the defendant, Luigi Mangione, was at a McDonald's body camera video.

We also have new photos of some of that evidence that was shown inside of the courtroom, including a necklace that has a USB drive on it, you see it on your screen there, a medical mask, and what appears to be a handwritten note. It's a to-do list from December 8th and 9th. On the 9th, Luigi Mangione was actually arrested.

Now, law enforcement, whenever they arrested Luigi Mangione last year in December, they went through his backpack and found key pieces of evidence that they say link him to the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. That included a gun and what's being referred to as a manifesto.

[17:19:57]

But what his defense attorneys are arguing here, Jessica, is that there was no search warrant and they questioned him without reading his Miranda warning. Prosecutors obviously disagree, which is why we're having this hearing to begin with. Tomorrow, we're expecting to hear from those two officers who actually searched that backpack. So, it's going to be a lot more focus on the backpack and what was in it itself, Jessica.

DEAN: And Leigh, Mangione has had this cult-like following of support since his arrest last year. What are we seeing at these hearings?

WALDMAN: This isn't even the trial yet, and there's lines and lines of people waiting to get inside of that courtroom. It's packed with journalists and with people outside. You can see on the screen people holding up these handwritten signs saying, free Luigi. There's a big truck that has been driving past this courthouse with an LED screen talking about how they're defending Luigi and all of this. There have been thousands of letters sent to him in jail, over a million dollars in donations to his legal fund.

And this is just an evidence hearing, a pre-trial hearing. So, we can only imagine what's going to happen when this case actually goes to court and this trial takes place here. DEAN: Yes. All right, Leigh Waldman following this for us, thank you so much. Let's go to Charlotte, North Carolina where we're following another stabbing on the city's light rail system. You'll remember a Ukrainian refugee was killed while riding on that light rail system in August.

Police say the suspect in this latest stabbing has been identified as 33-year-old Oscar Solarzano. He was quickly apprehended and now faces several charges, including attempted first-degree murder. Records show he was in the U.S. illegally. The latest victim is now hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

Let's bring in CNN's Rafael Romo, who picks this story up now. So, where does this go from here, Rafael?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jessica. Well, the stabbing happened on Friday, two days after the city of Charlotte launched a new safety initiative called Operation Safe Season to -- quote -- "significantly increase police presence and enforcement in areas plagued by violence." And the same day, a new police chief was sworn in.

In a statement, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department told CNN that officers responded to a stabbing near the light rail station on 25th Street and North Brevard Street around 4.50 p.m.

According to the arrest warrant, the suspect, identified as 33-year- old Oscar Solarzano, allegedly attacked the victim with a -- quote -- "large fixed blade knife, appeared intoxicated, challenged the victim to a fight, and cursed and shouted at others while slurring." Police said the victim was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

The Department of Homeland Security said that Solarzano is an undocumented immigrant from Honduras. According to the arrest warrant, he now faces multiple charges for the attack, including attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon causing serious injury, and carrying a concealed weapon.

The top Department of Homeland Security official said in a statement that the suspect was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2018, and then deported by the Trump administration. She added that the suspect was removed again after entering the U.S. illegally in 2021, and then re-entered the country a third time on an unknown date and location.

Reacting to the attack, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said that there are several aspects of public safety that are outside of the city's jurisdiction, including immigration policy and enforcement, but we will continue to focus on public safety, she said, and ensuring a safe and vibrant community.

White House border czar Tom Homan criticized the mayor's statement this morning in an interview with Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: Put your actions where your words are. Put your officers on their shoulder. We're not asking them to be immigration officers. We're asking them to help us locate and remove illegal aliens who are public safety threats in our city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Jessica, the stabbing happened on Charlotte's Lynx Blue Line, the same route where Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death in late August, an attack cited by the Trump administration and conservative politicians as an example of the violent crime they say plagues many Democrat-led cities. Charlotte was also recently the focus of immigration enforcement operations by the DHS.

President Trump wrote about the most recent attack yesterday on Truth Social, saying that Democrats are destroying, he said, Charlotte piece by piece. Now, back to you.

DEAN: All right, Rafael Romo, thank you so much for that. And still to come tonight, Americans increasingly worried about the economy. Harry Enten joins us to run the numbers on that. That's next.

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[17:25:00]

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DEAN: This week, President Trump once again blaming Democrats for the affordability crisis that has now persisted into his second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The word "affordability" is a con job by the Democrats. And watch today where they have a race going on right now in Tennessee, and this woman goes affordability, affordability. They're the ones that caused the problem. The prices were way high. We are bringing the prices down. But they're like scam artists. They're con. I call them con men and women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: This week's inflation report before the Fed meeting next week showed how hard it is for Americans right now to afford basic necessities. And the higher cost of living after having dealt with inflation continues to weigh heavily on a lot of Americans out there.

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten runs the numbers on the affordability crisis. Harry?

[17:30:00]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there, Jessica. Happy weekend to you. Look, Donald Trump has made the claim that this whole discussion over affordability is a -- quote, unquote -- "con job." But the American people don't think it's a con job at all.

What are we talking about here? Well, let's take a look at Google searches. Google searches for affordability, they are now at the highest point that they have been since 2009. The Great Recession up like a rocket from where we were just a year ago, up 110% over the last month. So, Donald Trump may try and claim that the affordability discussion is a con job, but the American people disagree.

And indeed, it's not just in the Google searches. We can see it in the polling data as well. Take a look here. OK, most important to you right now, guess what clocks in at number one. It's, of course, the cost of living. This has been consistent in the Marquette University Law School polling data. It has been consistently the cost of living, number one. Of course, look at what's number two, right nearby, it's the economy. It's the economy. It's about money in the pocket yet again. And even number three, when I combine these two categories, healthcare or Medicare and social security, look at that, 17%.

So, what we're talking about here, Jessica Dean, is the top three issues that the American people are most concerned about, what matters to them most, they're all pocketbook issues. It all gets back to affordability.

Now, of course, when you think about the cost of living, right, I think there's a lot of us in the media who, you know, will talk about groceries. They might talk about gasoline prices, gas prices, of course, filling up your car.

But what is the number one thing, the number one metric that people go by when it comes to the cost of living? What's the number one most expensive thing in their lives, usually? Well, it's about housing, right? We had this entire discussion in New York City, the New York City mayoral campaign, right? The affordability, housing affordability. But it is not just in New York City where folks are concerned about affordable housing. It's nationwide.

Look at this number. This one really shocked me because you rarely ever see drops like this. Good, affordable housing, satisfied with access to it, back in 2014, 69% of Americans were satisfied with access to good, affordable housing. Look at 2019, dropped, 59%. Look at where we were by the last metric out, according to Gallup, to just 36%. That is a drop of 33 points in the matter of a decade, a drop of nearly half in the percentage of Americans who are satisfied with their access to good, affordable housing.

Look, the cost of living, affordability was what Donald Trump was able to ride, the fears about that, ride that to the White House in 2024. I dare say, Jessica Dean, he has lost the plot. He has lost the plot when it comes to the discussion about the cost of living. And now, he dismisses it. He dismisses it at his own peril. We saw in Virginia. We saw in New Jersey how economic concerns really drove those races. We saw it in New York City.

And if Donald Trump wants to continue to claim that this is a -- quote, unquote -- "con job," well, his party will pay the price come the 2026 midterm elections. Back to you, my friend. DEAN: All right, Harry Enten, always good to see you. Let's bring in Washington Post congressional reporter Marianna Sotomayor. It's great to see you, Marianna. Thanks for being here. I -- we have that Harry just laid out for us. I want to play something that Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick told our Manu Raju. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): I think affordability is the issue. That's what Trump's everything else. You know, people care about these other issues. They certainly want, you know, us to have smart foreign policy and all those things. But if you're living paycheck to paycheck, which most Americans are, and you can't afford to make ends meet, nothing else matters other than that. And they want to know that people are going to have a plan to help fix that.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Has your party been making this enough of a focus, affordability?

FITZPATRICK: I don't think they have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So, just for context, Fitzpatrick is one of the few Republican members who won his seat in a district that Vice President Kamala Harris won during the 2024 election. So, Marianna, what is your sense in your reporting about how Republicans are thinking about this affordability issue? Are they leaning more toward Fitzpatrick as they head into these midterms?

MARIANNA SOTOMAYOR, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, we haven't heard Republicans necessarily criticize Trump outright for what he said this week, that affordability is a made-up issue. But it is absolutely front of mind for Republicans. They are anxious.

We've seen time and time again, Democrats win in a number of elections this year, not to mention Democrats at least making races that should be easy for House Republicans to win, making those more competitive. And the reason why is because of affordability. Democrats, if you ask them, they will say that they should have talked more about the cost of living in 2024. So, going into 2026, it is truly the only thing I hear and I've heard all year from congressional Democrats.

[17:35:00]

Republicans, of course, they passed their one big, beautiful bill, but it is a really big bill. And Republicans, especially on the House side, they want more clarity from their leaders. How should we be talking about this? They also know that know that, you know, a number of these effects, they keep telling the public, you know, it's probably around tax season where you will see a cut in your taxes.

But is that really going to make a difference for voters who are possibly going to see those Affordable Care Act subsidies go up and are already seeing in their day-to-day life costs continuing to rise? And it's interesting to note, too, in the polling, a lot of people blaming Trump that he's not paying enough attention on the economy. And we have seen Republicans, especially some of those MAGA loyalists like Marjorie Taylor Greene, calling out the president for focusing too much on foreign policy and not enough on the domestic issues, particularly on the economy.

DEAN: Yes. And you mentioned those health care subsidies which, obviously, were at the heart of the shutdown that we had just a little bit ago. We know that on Thursday, the Senate is expected to take this vote on this Democratic plan to expand the subsidies. But as someone who covers Congress, you understand this quite well, there's just a very limited amount of time left for them to be in session to sort this out, and it is quite thorny.

Again, what is your reporting indicating about where we are right now and where we could -- like, is there a potential to get to a deal before they go home for the holidays?

SOTOMAYOR: I mean, you make a good point, Congress only is going to be in session for two more weeks. And, as of right now, it's a Democratic plan. I don't expect that plan to actually receive enough votes to be able to go to the House. That Democratic plan, they want to extend those subsidies for three years.

Republicans are not even touching that number. I've heard Republicans want to possibly extend those subsidies for six months to two years. It's really kind of all over the place.

However, Speaker Mike Johnson said that he could possibly put a health care bill on the floor this week. But again, all that I have really sensed is that Republicans continue to be all over the place. This could be the kind of vote which -- by the way, we do not have any details of what this Republican plan would include, but it could be the kind of vote that Johnson just puts on the floor knowing it's going to fail, and then message to the public and say, hey, we tried to extend these subsidies, we didn't have enough votes. They'll probably blame Democrats because they're not expected to help here.

And it does give cover to some of those Republicans like Fitzpatrick, moderates who are absolutely wanting and possibly could force other votes to ensure that those subsidies stay in place because they know that voters are already seeing their premiums likely to skyrocket. And it's only going to add more pressure on Republicans to try and do more in the upcoming year to try and lower prices. But, of course, it's a political year. That's when you see actually less votes happening in the House --

DEAN: That's right.

SOTOMAYOR: -- and the Senate, and everything just becomes that much more political.

DEAN: Yes, it's even harder to see bipartisan legislation, sadly, in a political year. But what we do know is that if these premiums go up, that is real money for a lot of Americans. Marianna, great to see you. Thank you so much.

SOTOMAYOR: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Coming up, a legal battle playing out over the Defense Department's new press corps. "The New York Times" says the Pentagon is violating Americans' First Amendment rights and how journalists are still managing to do their work outside the Pentagon's five walls.

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[17:40:00]

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DEAN: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth facing mounting scrutiny on two fronts this week. First, on Capitol Hill over a follow-up strike on an alleged drug bite boat in the Caribbean. And also, a watchdog report that found he risked endangering troops by sharing sensitive information in that Signal message chat. But because of new Pentagon press restrictions, most major outlets, including CNN, were not in the Pentagon press room to question officials over any of this.

We're joined now by CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter. Brian, good to see you. Season Pentagon reporters are still doing an excellent job of getting these stories out here without being in the building. But how significant is it and how big of a deal is it that so many reporters don't have that sort of access in this moment?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST, AUTHOR, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT FOR VANITY FAIR: It is a very big change, reversing decades of precedent. And this week, a few days ago, the Pentagon brought in pro- Trump mega media content creators and held a briefing, acting as if there was a new press corps in charge. But, in reality, those pro- Trump influencers are not trying to break scoops, they're not trying to break news about the Pentagon, they're just promoting Pete Hegseth and his aides.

So, as for the real actual Pentagon press corps now working from the outside, you see reporters continuing to generate scoop after scoop. And this New York Times lawsuit may end up being a big deal in that regard. The Times suing in order to reverse Hegseth's new restriction, trying to get back to the old normal that was working well.

We are seeing now several cases of news outlets standing up and defending their rights at the end of Trump's first year back in office. You know, "The Wall Street Journal" defending itself against Trump's lawsuit. The AP still fighting in court over the Gulf of Mexico versus the Gulf of America. Trump recently lost an appeal of an old lawsuit against CNN.

[17:45:00]

What we have seen is that when news outlets fight for their rights, they usually prevail. But when they fold, rights get curtailed for everyone. So, this might be another example of a media outlet going to court, trying to fight for the rights of the press, and we'll see what happens in this Pentagon case.

DEAN: Certainly. We're also watching tonight in Washington where the Kennedy Center Honors is happening.

STELTER: Yes.

DEAN: President Trump is hosting the event. Again, that's very outside of the norm. He said that he's doing this at the request of a certain network. It airs on CBS. How are you thinking about all of this?

STELTER: This is President Trump living out one of his fantasies. You know, he's accustomed to seeing people up on fancy stages poking fun at him, right? Think about the Oscars or something. Tonight, he gets to be the host. Notice that he called out Jimmy Kimmel. He said, I'm going to have to beat Kimmel up there. Well, Kimmel never actually hosted the Kennedy Center Honors. But that's beside the point. Trump has reshaped the Kennedy Center this year. He is renovating the building, seeking out new sponsors, running the board meetings.

And I think Politico columnist Jonathan Martin said it best this week. He put this into the broader context of how Trump is approaching his second term, saying, Trump has turned the office of president into an adult fantasy camp. Martin said yes, Trump is one-part Victor Orban wielding state power to reward friends and punish foes. But -- quote -- "He's also a 12-year-old boy going on fun trips, playing with toys, having lots of screen time." Martin's column on political.com is what worth reading if you haven't read it. He really nailed it.

You know, we heard during Trump's first term about people trying to restrain him, holding him back. You'd hear people say, oh, just let Trump be Trump. Well, in Trump's second term, most of those people restraining him are gone. He is being who he wants to be as president. And on a night like tonight, that means getting to host a primetime special. And honestly, it might be really good T.V. So, we will find out. CBS usually airs the Kennedy Center Honors in a few weeks. So, it airs closer to Christmas. But I'm sure we'll hear some leaks tonight about how Trump does up on stage.

DEAN: I'm sure we will. All right, Brian Stelter, good to see you. And don't forget to sign up for Brian's newsletter, Reliable Sources. It's great, cnn.com/reliablesources. Brian, thanks.

And still to come, the college football playoff field is set. Twelve teams ready to compete for the national championship. But One, on the outside, is getting a lot of attention. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: It has been quite a day for college football, filled with controversy and arguments that are still raging in a lot of places tonight. The college football playoff field has been set. Minimal controversy really at the top where Indiana is the number one seed. But missing from the 12-team field is Notre Dame. CNN sports anchor Patrick Snell joins us now. Patrick, this has created quite a buzz though in the college football world. PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, you're exactly right. And that's putting it mildly. Exciting times for college football fans here in the U.S. And, as you say, plenty to debate as well. Notre Dame fans, I'm pretty sure, will be rather upset by this. The Fighting Irish, they went 10 and 2, but lost the season opener, you may recall, to Miami, who also went 10 and 2. But the Hurricanes did make the field. So, what did it all comes down to?

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HUNTER YURACHEK, CHAIRMAN, CFP SELECTION COMMITTEE: You look at those two teams on paper, and they're almost equal in their schedule strength, their common opponents, the results against their common opponents. But the one metric we had to fall back on again was the head-to-head.

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SNELL: The head-to-head. That's going to do it. Notre Dame has since declined to participate in a bowl game this postseason. Alabama, meantime, is also in despite having three losses. But keep this in mind: Alabama, they really are in one of the top and toughest conferences. Here's their most recent game from Saturday against Georgia. Georgia just dominating their game against Alabama, exercising some demons as well in the process.

Head coach Kirby Smart was 0-4 against Alabama in the SEC title game with just one and seven over all coming into this one. Gunner Stockton throwing for three touchdowns. That vaunted Georgia defense was pretty much unstoppable throughout the Bulldogs, the class apart in this game and winning it rather convincingly 28 points to seven.

Virginia coming into the ACC title game against Duke ranked number 17. A win would mean an automatic bid to the college football playoff, this one going to overtime. And in overtime, Duke quarterback Darian Mensah rolling out, eventually finding Jeremiah Hasley for the touchdown. So, the Blue Devils go up seven. Virginia then tried to run some trickery on their next play, but Chandler Morris's pass is picked off. Duke winning at 27 to 20 to claim their first outright ACC title since the early 1960s, 1962. In fact, their fans loving it.

And in the Big 10 title game, we have number one Ohio State against number two Indiana. The Heisman trophy likely in the line two as the two front runners are the Buckeyes Julian Sayin and Indiana's Fernando Mendoza. Third quarter, Indiana down 10 to 6. Mendoza to Elijah Sarratt here for the touchdown. Indiana taking the 13 to 10 lead.

Now, after Ohio State missed a game tying field goal, Mendoza putting the game away. Check this out. It is a beautiful pass to Charlie Becker. Indiana winning at 13-10 and snapping a 30-game losing streak against Ohio State. They complete their first ever undefeated 13-0 season. Indiana are Big 10 champs for the first time since 1967, and they will be the top overall seed in the playoffs. Those scenes there.

Texas Tech, meantime finishing off their best season in school history with their first ever big 12 title. They powered their way past BYU 34-7. The Red Raiders are dominant. They've beaten every single team they've played by at least 20 points.

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They're only lost coming when the quarterback was out. Tech seeded number four and will receive a buy in the first round. As we scan the bracket then, the top four seeds, Indiana, Ohio State, the defending champs, Georgia, we got Texas Tech there. They all earn first round buys and will automatically advance to the last state, which begins just a few days after Christmas, New Year's Eve, in fact.

And with that, Jessica, right back to you.

DEAN: All right. Thank you so much for walking us through it, Patrick Snell. We appreciate it. A quick programming note for you next week on Sunday, December 14th. Roy Wood, Jr. is going to host a holiday special for the whole family with music from the United States Air Force Band and Jesse James Decker, comedy from Roy, Craig Robinson, and many more. Roy Wood, Jr.'s "Very, Very, Very Merry Holiday Special" airs December 14th at 8 p.m. Eastern Pacific right here on CNN. You can also find it on the CNN app.

Still ahead here tonight, President Trump taking the stage to host the Kennedy Center Honors. How the president is redefining one of the country's most prominent cultural institutions.

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